Thursday, July 5, 2007

Report on NOAA's Drought Monitor

AgWeb.com: According to NOAA's Drought Monitor... the frontal passage on Friday, June 29, brought beneficial rains to the Midwest and OhioValley. The moisture removed most of the D0 (abnormally dry) in Illinois and further reduced D0 in western Indiana. D1 (moderate drought) retreated southward in eastern Indiana but persisted in southern Ohio. In contrast, dry weather led to expansion of D1 in central and southern Minnesota and D0 across western Iowa and parts of eastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. Rainfall has been under 40 percent of normal in this region during the past 30 days, leading to rapid drying of soil moisture.

Meanwhile, across the interior West, above-normal temperatures and little rain led to persisting drought from the Southwest desert region northward to the northern Rockies and Intermountain region, with D2 (severe drought) and D1 drought expanding northward in eastern Oregon and D1 drought migrating into southern Idaho. Dropping soil moisture levels due to hot, dry weather led to introduction of D3 (extreme) drought in western Nevada and adjacent areas of the California Sierra. High temperatures also contributed to some expansion of the D0 dry area in northern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming. Triple-digit heat reached from Colorado into Wyoming on July 2. Dry weather and temperatures averaging close to 4°F above normal led to expansion of D0 northward into southwestern North Dakota from western South Dakota. Drought also extended slightly eastward in southwestern South Dakota. Thirty-day rainfall less than one-half of normal led to D0 in far western Kansas. Flooding rains hit eastern Kansas and Oklahoma and Texas.

June 2009 – At the studios of Cleanskies TV, I was interviewed about the costs of climate change, and discussed adaptation efforts underway in the US and around the world.

May 2009 – I helped draft the scenarios for Rising Waters, a multistakeholder scenarios effort focused on climate change adaptation in the Hudson Valley. The final report is now completed and available here.

May 2008 – I reviewed two books on climate and energy in the New Leader magazine: James Gustave Speth's The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, plus Robert Bryce's Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence.

January 2008 – A very local paper covers a very global issue.... The Litchfield County Times in northwestern Connectictut ran an article in January 2008 about Carbon-Based.

Now available: Climate Change Adaptation in 2011

A selection of my writings from 2011, plus some of my posts, as well as links... all focusing on the risks of climate change